Review: Singapore Airlines Business Class A350-900ULR Singapore To Newark

Back to back longhauls. You are a glutton for punishment

So how much was an Uber from EWR to JFK?

Great review, thanks! For someone who values hard product above all, it seems like transpacific CX J trumps SQ J, even considering the need to transfer in HKG. Do you agree?

wow. idk if I could take 17 hours without light. I've never really enjoyed flying through the pitch black night and not being able to see anything so to not even have the option would trip me out.

1. How long did it take for your eyes to adjust?

2. Was your next flight a night time flight as well?

The question is not what the cost of the urbr from EWR to JFK is. The question is how long did it take and how long where you stuck in traffic jams. 🙂 could do a whole trip report just on that adventurous trip.

Good review and I'm heartened to find that I'm not the only one who thinks that in spite of the hype, Singapore Airlines have one of the worst business class seats in use. FWIW, the newest one is even harder than the one on the A350 and the leg rest raises to the same useless 45 degrees so no use at all and if you want to put your feet up you are forced to sit at an angle resulting in back pain. SQ have well and truly lost the plot IMHO!

Is it just me or did this review seem short for a 17+ hour flight? I thought Singapore would do more for the flight.

Having taken this flight, I agree that the menu is inadequate and the seat very uncomfortable. The crew was attentive and did try their best, but it was their first time on that route, so not everything went right: toilets were not spotless mid flight (as well not enough business class toilets for the amount of passenges) food items ran out (even though ordered at start of flight); and there was too much noise from galley and cart service, hardly got any sleep.
The worst thing for us was that one of our seats did not work. It only worked fully upright or as in full bed mode, which was tough to bear for so many hours. Contacted Singapore about it and they said “sorry... out engineers have now fixed it”. Is this good enough for such airline specially when you have paid a full fare for the ticket?

You repeatedly criticize the bed comfort (which seems like a common thread through multiple reviews)... what do you view as the most comfortable beds in transpacific J class?

My only transpacific experience is the Apex seats on both Korean and JAL which I liked. Is the real Polaris seat the winner here?

Flying 17 hours from Singapore to New York, then immediately back on a plane to Nairobi? Wow

EWR to JFK via Staten Island and Brooklyn Belt Expressway should be under an hour. Or, you could go through Manhattan in under three hours (more or less).

"" I also found it interesting how many people in the gate area were talking about what a special flight this is... ""

What's clear TO ME is they're falling for SQ advertising and airline blogger hype.

Excited nonetheless to fly this route in Premium Economy thanks to the Black Friday sale! Snagged one of the solo seats in the back and would switch to a row of 4 if the whole row ends up empty

Oh and another problem during our flight was that flight tacker/status/airshow functions did not work the whole flight...one of my favourite features in any flight

What does your doctor think about your life choices of doing back to back longhauls (is your insurance cost higher 🙂 )

I will say the words that all bloggers seem afraid to utter aloud, SQ biz class seats are pure, uncomfortable trash.

SQ SQ SQ they live in the past. I find EK 380 so much better. Love the bar in the rear. SQ had a chance to make this special. They did not.

I flew this on the A340 when it was all J. A nice quiet flight overall (there were maybe 25 people on the flight). Helps that I don't mind the seat, and the timing was different (I believe we landed early evening in EWR vs early morning) so the food made more sense.

@Lucky, your bottomline summarizes the main issue with this flight and other available and contemplated (LHR-SYD) ultra long haul flights: a long flight is a long flight. All the food, IFE and seats in the world can only distract you for so long before you ask "are we there yet?". Economics is one factor in limiting these flights, though I believe their "bearability" is just as important. A breakthrough is badly needed in aviation to shorten time/increase speeds for these flights to get closer to that bearable 11-13 hour mark.

Going through Staten Island and Belt to JFK in under a hour you better bring some extra money to grease the cops or be a hot seductress.

I think the SQ seat/bed comfort really depends on how you sleep. As a side sleeper I actually much preferred them to say Etihad because I can sleep on my side and bend my knees with plenty of space. I found of Etihad and even a little on Emirates that I was constrained to sleeping like I was in a coffin.

The plane needs a lounge! Too long not to have one. They should shed some premium economy seats for it. Also, dining on demand should be de rigueur. Anyway, I will take it just because......

The review seems to be just a repeat/reprint of your october trip - is there a reason for this or am I mistaken?

@ Nifel -- I had shared my initial thoughts about the flight shortly after taking it, but this is the full review.

@willem don’t switch to a row of four. The armrests are fixed, and you won’t be able to take advantage of vacant seats next to you. I think the best premium y seats are probably the emergency exit row window seats. You get to lean against the window and still have full access to aisle. The solo seat with the additional storage was nice, but it was hard for me to sleep without leaning against something

Agree as well that the BC seats are not comfy. They look fancy but are unpractical and tights.
Give me GA, TK, KL, ET, AY etc any time.

BC toilets was already and issue on the old A340 flight. Too tight and not enough. As BC traveller I do not want to stand in line while someone is sitting in there taking a dump. On a plane for this kind of flights they should have added 2 more BC toilets and have them 15-20 cm wider as well.

I have been PPS Solitaire for about 20 years but now down to Gold as my preference has changed away from SQ because of the seats.

Should I stick to the KF program or is there a better *A program. I only fly BC. About 8-10 longhauls and maybe 20-25 shorthauls in a year.
And no CC transfers, I get 95% of my points through ass in seat.

After 15 economy R/T transpacific flights to Thailand over the last 20 years, I was lucky enough to snag a Hong Kong Airlines error fare in business, which I’ll take in March. Having read your review of that flight LAX to Shanghai, it looks like it is comparable but much shorter and one less meal, which I’ll get on the Shanghai to BKK flight. Hopefully, the seats on Hong Kong Airlines will be more comfortable than those on Singapore Airlines. Other than that, I don’t want to get too used to business class service, as price is still my number one concern in buying a ticket to Asia.

Not sure you know, but the Chateau Rauzan-Ségla Margaux 2006 they served on that flight is a great wine from a very good vintage. Hope you got to enjoy some!

@Gio thanks for the heads-up! I’ll hold on to what I have

Lucky
You have pointed out what you perceived as odd feeding schedule by Singapore airline. However, I think something that is amiss by you and many aviation bloggers is whether singapore airlines meal design and lighting schedule helps with jet lag as they claimed for normal travelers who actually stay at their destination for some time. You and many aviation bloggers often time would just take another flight out within 24 hours or less and so there isn't any basis of comparison. Do you think this is a fair observation?

Every criticism of the seat can be answered with 5 important words: you don't need to stop.

Personally, I have no problem with the seats (although I'm of two minds about the mattress, which I find comfortable but also requires you to make a conscious decision to sleep and prevents you from simply closing your eyes and falling to sleep -- but that's a trade off) but even if I did, the fact that I don't need to stop and waste time, trumps all. That is no small thing for most people taking this flight, who don't have the luxury of lots of free time.

I don't entirely agree with the "a long flight will always be a long flight". I changed my 1st class Emirates flight back from Auckland (NZ) to a direct flight to Dubai when it became available, instead of stopping in Melbourne as originally scheduled. Cutting that stop saved me several hours on the way back to Europe. 2 years ago it also was the longest flight available, which added to the thrill, some 17,5 hours. I admit, I would not have made this change if I was flying economy. But since I was lucky to travel in 1st, I was never bored, and I left the airplane in Dubai genuinly feeling "that went by fast". After this review, I would not opt for the ultra-long SQ flight: no room to walk around, not enough bathrooms, no real dine on demand.

Virtually nobody would sleep perpendicularly to their bed throughout the night and I simply can't understand why the fuss is about of having to sleep at an angle. The only thing that can let you sleep not at an angle throughout is the coffin.

When I took this flight several yers ago it left Changi at 10 in the morning and landed at Newark at 6 PM. The timing was much better and window shades were opened for a lot of the flight. I found it pleasant and not much different than a flight from Tokyo to New York.

I know I've said this on every other SQ review, but you keep harping on the seat, so I'm going to keep writing this: there is literally no difference between your body when sleeping on CX and SQ. Look at how the seatbelt is positioned in flat mode: you are not meant to lie down parallel to the aircraft (if you did so, it would be truly odd to stick your legs off at an angle). A complaint might be the limited ability to "lounge." In return, you benefit from a flat mode that doesn't have the odd curves from the lumbar support.

Brian,

I agree 100% - the A340 flight seemed to make much more sense, in terms of the cabin layout, timing of the flight, and meal service. It was an outstanding flight.

Your comments on being in darkness for 18 hours take me back 40 years to a colleague’s comments after his first SIA flight out of Auckland, and to wonder if this is SIA normal policy.

This was in the days of roof mounted, three-beam projectors, bulkhead screens and barked orders to pull down blinds ready for the screening. Only problem was it was uber bright outside and crystal clear at 36,000 feet, giving the pax a stunning view of ‘red centre’ Australia which many wanted to see instead of a so-so movie.

Eventually, the Singapore girls prevailed, somehow quelling a near riot. My friend described them as “operating like identical robots”.

I’ve never forgotten that - or, as it happens, flown SIA.

Ben, how do you eat all these frequent in-flight meals (most of which are heavy on carbs and/or fat) without getting overweight? I've always wondered that. I have noticed you review hotel gyms but you don't seem to actually use them, unless I'm mistaken.

@ Brian

Correct, that flight landed in EWR in the morning. Did it several times. Once as crazy as in 'arriving, shower, do meeting, back to the airport and take the return flight'.

I just took off from Auckland to Doha on QR, 17h40m of WiFi for $10!

Those Laundress wash bars are amazing. Cleans clothes really well.

I notice they continue to serve those terrible poultry sausages with breakfast. We need a campaign for airlines to serve a decent pork sausage instead. The religious zealots may make unsound objections (based on something they have been told to believe rather than reality) but they are not forced to eat them.

Also, they were biscuits, not cookies, served with the coffee.

I was on the inaugural SIN-EWR on 11 Oct 2018 in Premium economy.

Also agreed the Chateau Rauzan-Ségla Margaux 2006 was very good, having tried during a SIN-HKG flight.

For anyone who has taken both the EWR-SIN and SIN-EWR flights, which leg is better in your opinion? Which is longer?

Did every passenger enter the plane through one door which is through the business class mini cabin or do they separate business and premium economy passengers entry door?

I recently Flew on A350 Singapore to San Francisco... as you said, sleeping is tough, the knees kept hitting the sides and surprised they didn't offer pajamas on a 15 hour flight as they used to... still a big fan of their Service

I refuse to fly Singapore Airlines for many reasons.
I have been on several flights, that even in First Class my seat was broken and it was in the upright position the entire flight to Singapore and the complaint emails did not go anywhere. I have not gotten a single dollar of compensation or 1 single Kris Flyer mile, a cheap and greedy airline and the people in charge of corporate customer care simply do not care.
SQ has lost my luggage and damaged them on some other routes. I have had luggage missing for several days and again, not a single penny or a single mile, a cheap and tacky airline customer relations. My camera was damaged on a different flight, by water pouring from their equipment and again, nothing. I have been on flights where my special meals were not boarded and again nothing. I have SQ cancel my flight out of IST and wanted me to fly on a different day based on their choice, instead of booking on a different carrier and their excuse was that I had used miles for my flight. No other airline would do this and they would protect you on a different airline and rebook you where SQ does not offer this service and they make you fly on a day based on their preference, not the day you originally book and works best for you.
The only saving grace for SQ, is their Flight Attendants as they are mostly hard working. However I have been told, since they are on contract, if they get written up for anything, they will get fired, unlike United, AA or Delta Flight Crews, where they can do whatever they want because of having Unions where literally on a recent flight United Flight Attendants sat on the metal bins in the galley of the 787 and watched their IPADS the entire flight.
If anyone knows how I can take SQ to small claims court to recoup some of the costs associated with my luggage and In-Flight Equipment issues please do not hesitate to email me. Thank you!

I'm about to book this flight EWR-SIN on the A359; does anyone know which seats are the best for an engine view?

Lol. Serious nitpicking but anyone who knows anything about wine understands one doesn't just run the description through Google translate. When referring to a Bordeaux, "Grand Cru Classe" remains the same whether in French or English. To print the words "Great Classed Growth" is a laughable culture fail. Well at least you know I read your article. Separately, I rode SQ21 last December with two toddlers in PE and while not business it was far better than economy. And flying direct shaves 2-3 hours off the JFK-FRA-SIN route.

Ole Alan sounds like a professional complainer. I've never had a bad experience on SQ. Only once were my bags delayed and there was a baggage claim rep waiting for me at the carousel in Bangkok. She escorted me to the claim office and helped me complete the paperwork. She and her manager apologized profusely and gave me 5,000 baht cash on the spot for my inconvenience, all without me complaining at all. The bags were delivered to my hotel the next morning. I suspect SQ's alleged lack of response to Alan's repeated complaining signifies they are onto his scam.

You’re wrong about the lack of breakfast options. There were other options like egg noodles, dim sum etc.

And it seems that you’re not a big fan of Asian cuisine. Then choose the western option in the future.

I'm pretty shocked at the seat comfort review. This is such a long flight for "not great" hard, uncomfortable seats. I flew this route out of Newark Twice about 10 years ago on the A340 with 90 seats of business class only. I agree on the EWR-SIN leg that 18 hours in darkness is a lot to handle. I also did not like the fact the flight landed at 6am, meaning you have a whole day in front of you to feel Day 1 jetlag. However I did love these flights. The food was pretty amazing and I had a gin and tonic on a SIN-EWR which was the best I've ever tasted. I'm a huge airliner geek and these were four of my most favorite flights full stop.